When It comes to raw guitar amp tone the Kemper is the gold standard. I have tried the fractal/Headrush units and the Helix. I think that the Helix is the worst for amp tones but has some great effects and IO options. The Fractal units are good but I feel like the only area that they beat the Kemper is in the FX department and not the amp tone. I feel like the Fractal and the Kemper are the top dogs and the Helix and Headrush are a lower tier sound wise. I did really like the Headrush floorboard a lot better than the Helix. For the right price the Headrush is a great backup for a Kemper or Fractal.
Having spent around 6 hours doing an A/B shoot-out between my KPA and the AxeFX III, I would agree with your assessment.
I would also add that when it comes to listening to a song, then picking out the guitar tone you would like for that song, then using the digital amp to get that sound, the KPA is way faster than the Axe FX. It is just stupid simple to get where you want to go quickly with a KPA.